Postgame report: Ravens 16, 49ers 6

So much for 15-1. Thursday night’s loss at Baltimore ended the 49ers’ eight-game win streak and sent them humbly home to the Bay Area, finally done with a ridiculously brutal schedule in which they played five of their past nine games in the Eastern time zone.

This loss was a blueprint on how to beat the 49ers (9-2). Here’s why:

– The Ravens unleashed a pass rush that harassed the 49ers on every stinkin’ series. They blitzed. They ran stunts. They bull rushed. They overwhelemed the 49ers line, which probably wouldn’t have stood much chance even if right guard Adam Snyder hadn’t hurt his left hamstring and forced Chilo Rachal back into (often faulty) action.

Nine sacks? That is three more than the Cowboys tallied against Smith, who sustained a concussion in that Week 2 loss but proclaimed his head fully healthy after Thursday’s attacks. The Ravens reminded me of my first look of the 49ers in a game setting this year, when the New Orleans Saints’ blitz-heavy scheme stunned the 49ers in the exhibition opener. You can bet the Steelers will do the same when “Monday Night Football” invades Candlestick in a couple weeks.

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– The 49ers defense played OK. But OK isn’t good enough when the 49ers offense is getting pummeled. True, the Ravens scored only 16 points and the 49ers still lead the league in points allowed and rushing yards allowed. But the 49ers defense was terrible on third down, aside from a goal-line stand in which Joe Flacco foolishly tried running for the goal line and got stuffed for no gain by Aldon Smith and Justin Smith. The go-ahead touchdown pass by Flacco looked too easy, and I don’t know if that is because Donte Whitner came over too late to cut off the angle of that catch. One more thing: Actually no things, as in NO SACKS and NO TURNOVERS. In other words, NO CHANCE.

– I really want to know more about Alex Smith’s pass to Braylon Edwards in the end zone, which resulted in an interception. Smith has had one pass picked off each of the past three games. Smith blamed this one on miscommunication. He thought Edwards was cutting inside, when instead Edwards went outside. Smith blamed it on miscommunication. Edwards didn’t give his side of the story, telling reporters he would talk Monday, and that is a lousy approach (two weeks ago, he was the last man out of the locker room, engaging the media after a win at DC). Why didn’t Edwards try to interfere and prevent the interception? I enjoy talking to Edwards so hopefully he’ll add insight Monday.

– Is Chilo Rachal still in this bad of a funk? He lost his right guard position to Adam Snyder in Week 3 with the type of play he displayed Thursday night. Rachal must improve fast, because I don’t think a few extra days rest will help Snyder be ready for next weekend’s game against St. Louis.

– Jim Harbaugh lost to his older brother, but Jim handled it with class, respect and humility. He praised his brother’s coaching skills and the Ravens’ personnel. Jim also didn’t criticize the officials for the call-of-the-game in which Frank Gore’s cut block nullified a 75-yard touchdown catch by Ted Ginn. I wonder if Jim would say it was a “good call” had he lost to any other coach than his brother, meaning maybe he didn’t want to diminish the Ravens’ win in any way. That’s fine. He seemed very sincere, even though this loss surely was disappointing.

– My notebook leads with the 75-yard touchdown play that wasn’t. I just watched another replay of it. Had Frank Gore not blocked the Ravens’ safety and had Rachal not followed up on the block, Smith definitely wouldn’t have had time to get off that (underthrown, 45-yards-in-the-air pass). Close call. Right call.

– I initially want to rip the circus-like atmosphere that accompanied the Har-Bowl. All those cameras. All the hype. All the wonderful family anecdotes. All the distractions. … But, this was a great dry-run for what might await the 49ers in the playoffs, especially if they have to go into Lambeau Field for the NFC title.

– Unless the Giants, Lions or Falcons surpass the 49ers in the playoff race, I don’t expect the 49ers to return to the Eastern time zone until next season. The 49ers have to play on the road next season against the New England Patriots and New York Jets, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the 49ers ask the league to book those games on back-to-back weekends since this year’s Ohio-Philly swing sparked an eight-game win streak.

Cam Inman

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Harbaugh himself came as close as he’s ever come to admitting frustration with a single player (on the chop block); a player who continues to struggle and whose personal failings (mental & physical) *do*, in fact, affect the rest of his linemates even when he himself isn’t directly responsible (players who talk about “chemistry” are actually talking about *trust*).

But 9er fans knew all about “him” & his replacement even while talking heads overreached for pity reasons (e.g., Bill Simmons) & convoluted stats to explain San Francisco’s improved play on offense. So nuff said until adios, once and for all.

What this fan didn’t know was the ceiling for manning up by San Francisco’s QB in the face of eager skeptics drooling for another 9er loss just to crow “I told you so.”

“But 9er fans knew all about “him” & his replacement even while talking heads overreached for [pithy] reasons …”

Smackalot

Chilo Rachal… I’m tired of saying it over and over again too. As far as the haters wanting us to lose, pay them no mind. We’ll be back on track soon enough. This would’ve been a hard one to win, traveling on a short week and all. For all the things that went wrong tonight, they were still in it right to the end. And that tells me that this is a pretty damn good football team.

Leonard Bonilla

Alex Smiths “miscommunications” excuse not withstanding, the throw was under thrown. In any case the ball should have been out in front of Edwards, he had to turn around and come back for it and the defender was behind him while Edwards was running down field. That under thrown ball then put the defender in front of Edwards. That play was all on Alex Smith, inside or outside the throw was SHORT!

Face it, Alex Smith cannot throw the long pass accurately, mostly because he has average arm strength and a tendency to be inaccurate any way. I can assure you Kaepernick would have thrown the ball in front of Edwards but rarely under throws a ball. Edwards had no chance to defend it.

A. Smith is as good as he is going to get, Harbaugh has done all he can for Alex. Alex is a good serviceable back up and that is it. If they give him an extension I’ll be disappointed.

My hope is the Niners lock up the division early, that way Kaepernick may get some playing time with the first team. He needs it. What if Smith gets hurt in the regular season or the playoff game. Does anyone think Kaepernick has enough experience to take over? I don’t.

snsf49erloyal

Hey everyone, you can thank Mike (MORAN) Nolan for this Chilo Rachal, was his prized pick. I have to remind myself that (Nolan) has done some serious damage to this 49er organization; the effects of his stupid blunders will be evident for a few more years to come. What an idiot, I can go on but I think everyone got the thought process. We will be fine, 49ers are taking steps in right direction. We cannot win every game, we will be fine next week. Go Niners!!

http://www.asetcs.com Steve Harshbarger

They need to be able to identify the blitz earlier and dump the ball off quicker. Unless this is fixed, they will not get very far. The good news is that they must now know this….but can they correct it? They also got out-coached this week for the first time…but no one is perfect.

This is the second week in a row, I have seen Alex throw the long ball with lousy results. Maybe this week they can work on this deficiency.

808HI.

There is plenty of room to share the blame and hopeful the they will grow from it.
Offensive coordinator HAS to have a screen play designed in the darn playbook. There was ZERO slants.

Defensive line played ok, but no sacks or big plays which has been there for most of the season.

Too much Gore, got get Hunter the ball more.

And in regards to Rachal, he gotta in my opinion should be on the bench!

Go Niiners!!

snsf49erloyal

Cam .. Interesting point purely as a knowledgeable football fan. I was discussing that I noticed the same Blitz schemes as New Orleans showed in the exhibition games earlier this season. However, I think Ravens have “emptied their tank” showing the rest of the league how they call their defensive plays. All the other teams like New England, Pittsburgh and Cincy are thanking them big time. Try to do that with Tom Brady in Fox borough, it is different when you are not playing at home.

4th and 1

bad coaching of the offenseive line. they didn’t know how to pick up the stunts and the blitzes. really poor coaching.

whocares

@#4, Leonard was the ball under thrown, or was BE suppose to have had the inside position on the defender?
I didn’t see any inside support from the safety, so it seems going in was the better option.
The real question to ask is why BE didn’t prevent the ball from getting intercepted? He seemed to make a motion as if the ball was going to pass through the defenders body. Take the penalty and everyone will say that was a good penalty to take. Own up BE.

sledpunch

49ers are in the Aubrey Huff realm with discussions to re-sign Smith to an extension. This should absolutely be the end of Alex in this uniform. What better way to end his career here, than on a very positive note.

You don’t make decisions based on emotion. Tolzien (who is my choice) and Kaepernick will be ready next year. With that said, Alex isn’t to blame for last night.

My issue wasn’t his arm last night. The fact that he didn’t scramble for 1st downs and/or positive yards was my problem. It was the only option he had and many times he scrambled behind line of scrimmage for no gain.

Mike

Everyone knows that Smith folds against a good pass rush. Most average QB’s have the same problem. Trouble is Smith is now on an elite team and the team needs him to step up his game. Unfortunately he is what he is (AVERAGE AVERAGE AVERAGE). Expect him to blow it in the playoffs. ….sigh….

Keep’n It Real

Leonard – Why don’t you just come out and say that you are an Alex Smith hater? Looking at the chat transcript, your Alex-hate was pretty obvious with every question they allowed you to post.

Thank goodness Jim Harbaugh is running this team and the Alex-haters are not.

Bottom line…Niners would not be where they are today without Alex, period. The O-Line stunk up the place last night and Alex did a pretty darn good job not turning the ball over via stupid passes or fumbles. Could he have played better? Absolutely but not many QBs in this league would be sacked 9 times without throwing more interceptions or fumbling a time or two. Anyone saying Kaepernick would do better needs to turn in their 49er gear.

BTW…anyone the thinks Alex was BSing about the mis-communication last night has no idea about integrity. Alex has shown nothing but integrity (even with the circus clown coaches) and Braylon Edwards has a history of not being a good team member. Unfortunately, I am concerned that Braylon’s past behavior is creeping out; now that he’s not playing well. Someone as big as Braylon should have been able to knock that interception away.

The NFL TV guys were right….the 49ers should have used the middle of the field and got at least a FG.

As far as the future goes…I think the 49ers should sign Alex to a 2-year extension. Upside is you have a guy that knows the system…and he can be a back-up *if* Kaepernick somehow beats him out. Remember, it didn’t hurt Aaron Rodgers to sit and learn. I would also draft some WRs and maybe a project QB in the lower rounds. Maybe the Boise St. guy, since he won’t go high.

Red and Gold

Yup

Smackalot

It did seem like in terms of scheme the Niners were VERY conservative – few passes to the tight ends, no slants, no blitzes, etc., while the ravens went all out so to speak. If that’s a matter of strategy I’m fine with it. I.E., don’t show anything to Green Bay that they can use against us, instead, keep it close to the vest and surprise them with it. Is that really what happened Thursday night? Who knows, but the thought did cross my mind.

Bad Info

Natural tendency is to over-react to the most current event. Its understandable, but generally benefits from a longer view. The comment about Mike Nolan being responsible for Thursday’s loss because of Rachal’s poor performance does not take into account the exceptional value of Willis, V Davis and J Smith, amongst others- all brought in under Nolan. Let’s give him his due.

snsf49erloyal

@# 13 Smackalot – I agree, this game was important from ‘Har bowl’ point view. Jim knows that he has the NFC west locked in. My thought process is that he (Jim) can’t reveal too much in terms of schemes, to show potential NFC opponents what surprises we have in store for play offs. I had commented earlier about Ravens “emptying their tank” and showing everything, in my opinion the happiest guy watching films of this game is NOT John Harbaugh, it is Bill Belichick. He is thanking Ravens for showing it all in a media hyped game.

49cents

I have been mulling over whether to write about it or not. These were my thoughts as the game progressed. Why, I asked myself didn’t JimH not take AlexS out after the fifth sack? I was screaming for DavidK, at least for a few snaps to give Alex time to catch his breath. Gore was the only one I saw prone to slip. I think his ankles need more rest. I think also that the coaches were just as jet logged as the players and overwhelmed by the media hype. I hope the brothers will never have to face each other again because I was getting fed up with the Harbaugh snippets— No 14. I agree “Jim knows that the has the NFC west, and didn’t want to show the aces in his sleeves. Jim’s been pampering Alex too much, time will come when he needs to be ruthless and have no qualms putting in DavidK.

sledpunch

49ers have entered the Aubrey Huff realm with Smith.

You don’t sign contracts based on emotion. This should absolutely be Alex’s final year in SF. What better way can it end? He’s finally seen the true depth of talent this team posseses.

The talent is also nipping at his heels with Tolzien n Kaepernick ready to go next year.

Alex could have scrambled for many positive yards with the defense that aggressive. It was his only option and he still didn’t do it. He chose to scramble behind line of scrimmage too much.

Ezy

This game went pretty much like I expected. A hard nose low scoring battle for field position. Having a long trip in a short week put the Niners at a big disadvantage. The only way they win that game is to win the take-away battle which they didn’t.

I know a lot of fans dismissed the Ravens because of their inconsistency but the Ravens have been consistent in two areas: winning at home and playing well against good teams.

Also, as far as “emptying their tank” according to an earlier post, I don’t buy it because these are the same kinds of schemes the Ravens have been doing the past couple of seasons, nothing new. The Niners just hadn’t seen them before.

whocares

@16, give me a break… Alex is not a running back. You want him to get injured just to satisfy your need to win this game and not think about the season and playoffs?
Based on your view you think either QB back-up can carry the team into the playoffs and win.
Keep in mind that the coaches are probably telling AS to get the ball to the receivers to avoid injury. The coaches didn’t expect the OL to fail on pass protection due to injury and subs.
Don’t know, don’t care to discuss extensions, just enjoying the season and the fact that niners have surpassed everyone’s expectations.

Go Niners!

sledpunch

Re: whocares

So then we do agree that contract extension talk is foolish at this point. Many fans and media have begun the chant of get it done. Fitzpatrick in BUF is exhibit A of why you don’t rush a decision.

Smith scrambling isn’t a big deal, you’re right. Our WR’s have failed many an opportunity this year and that hasn’t gone unnoticed. Frustrating game all around, but we move on.

ChicagoNinerFan

No more talk of contract extensions for anyone! Let the season play out, and we can discuss again after the SB. People, enjoy what you are watching. The Niners are 9-2 and have exceeded expectations. Before you expound on all of the things that are wrong with this team, just think back over the mediocrity that you’ve witnessed over the past 8 years. Enjoy the Ride!